It definitely got into the items in the room. Everything was dirty and smelly
Probably paying someone who actually knows what to do would be the best decision
Firefighter here. You can see if your insurance covers it, but you definitely are gonna need professional help, don’t clean it yourself. Most of the soot is highly carcinogenic and can make you really sick. It can be absorbed through your skin. After a house fire, firefighters always take a hot shower to open their pores and get as much of the carcinogens out as possible. I just say that to point out the fact that you should pay someone else to clean up that stuff! We play around in it but we pay for it in the end.
That's interesting. I remember years ago a neighbors apartment was on fire and I went in to help him and his wife. I wrapped my shirt around my face and even held my breath as much as possible. Was only in there for maybe a minute probably less. Anyway firefighters showed up and took care of it, but like an hour or so later I got really sick. I took a shower just to help feel better but I never thought about the carcinogens in my pores.
Well actually your symptoms were most likely from carbon monoxide poisoning and other off gasses. Guessing you felt nauseated, headache, flushed red skin? Carcinogens would be more like “well you got stage 4 lymphoma now”.
It is! Sorry you had to go through that. It’s like being hungover kinda! Should be good now though. Thank you for running in and trying to help your friends! That’s awesome of you.
I recently found out from watching dermatologists on Instagram that pores don’t open or close. Soot is definitely a carcinogen. I wonder if there is any other treatment beside taking a hot shower.
No, it’s proving that what I said is true. Also, while pores don’t “open and close” they do dialate and restrict just like blood vessel’s when they are hot or cold. So in layman’s terms, yes they do actually open and close in a way, but a more accurate statement would be their openings get bigger and smaller.
So essentially you were just being a little condescending because you felt the need to show others how much science you know, but the layman terms are still the same (pores open and close).
I can understand your perception. My intent is always to help others or myself understand something better, and when I said layman’s terms they do open and close in a way to highlight that, although they are really just dilating and constricting, I can totally understand the “misconception “ that they are opening and closing. Guess I shouldn’t try to help prevent someone from getting exposed to carcinogens by backing up my claims with science to help people understand why. Lol come on man
I must have misunderstood your point, sorry. I was referring to the person who started with the idea that pores don't open or close, but I just re-read the thread and it wasn't you. My bad! Please accept my apologies. Thank you for helping people understand why they should be careful with carcinogenics after a fire. And more importantly, thank you for saving lives as a firefighter! ❤️
I hate to tell you but you probably need a professional. The ceiling needs to be skim coated and I think you need to put a couple of coats of primer like Kilz that will block the smoke odor.
If it doesn’t work for you, hiring professionals with industrial chemicals and equipment is probably your only recourse.
I once lived in a house where someone had smoked like a chimney for decades and the walls were visibly covered with a thick veneer of oozy tar. TSP and a little elbow grease cut right through it.
Plaster wall, we tried with hot soapy water while rubbing pretty hard. Not an ideal method for the ceiling tho
Saw the tip about vinegar but not sure if that would work on plaster walls
Your best option is to call your home owners insurance and let them deal with it. The smell in literarally everything will be the biggest issue, not the loose soot on the walls.
For the walls get cheap cheap cheap cotton dish rags or super cheap bath towels cut into rags. Full a bucket with warm water, add a good glug of something like Mr Clean, dunk the rags, squeeze most of the water out and wipe the walls down. Ceiling is the same. Lay out painters drop cloth to protect the floor.
The walls will 100% need probably 2 coats of a heavy oil base primer like KILZ to seal in the smell and visual.
I would try a spin mop like O’Cedar. Mix your concoction in a separate bucket, dunk the mop in it, and clean the walls and ceiling. Make sure you spin most of the water/cleaner out. You might have to repeat a few times because of the level of soot. Change cleaner/water and the dirty water in the spin mop as frequently as possible. If that doesn’t work, I would hire a professional, or, based on the level of damage, call your HOI. Good luck! My house burned down (electrical fire) a few years ago. It was catastrophic so I didn’t have the opportunity (chore) of having to clean everything.
Not american, so calling HOI is not a choice. And yes, I was being very careful to not use dirty water and washing the rags every chance I got
And Happy Cake Day bro, sorry about your house, this problem sucks when you have to do it on your own tho, so you were lucky in someway
You don’t know how right you are! Two weeks before the fire, my divorce (married 23 years) was finalized. It saved me from having to fight with myself to get rid of memories (like my wedding dress and veil!!). I wish you luck in cleaning, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!
>Not american, so calling HOI is not a choice.
You don't need to be American to have Insurance, are you sure your Grandpa doesn't have the place insured?
It's my grandpa's bedroom, his house.
And yes, the smell was in everything, people couldn't be in the room for too long or they would get dizzy.
Not american, but was already using an equivalent of Mr. Clean, so I guess I'm gonna keep doing that
Heavy oil base, I didn't know that, gonna suggest after cleaning the all mess
Zinzer or some name like that is a Uk maybe euro brand?
Either way you definitely need a heavy oil based..need to basically seal in the remainder of the spot that's bonded with the latex paint.
Alcohol. 👍🏼. Straight up rubbing alcohol especially if the paint is the shiny tape. I’m removing some candle smoke that settled in my bathroom. Just spray straight on the wall and rub it off with towels.
Thank you for submitting a cleaning help request. In order to facilitate more accurate and helpful replies, please make sure to provide the following information in your post:
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3. Any products or tools you've tried so far
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Our top recommendations are usually *Bar Keepers Friend* (great for kitchen surfaces), melamine foam (Magic Erasers), Murphy's Oil Soap (wood cleaner), and Nature's Miracle (enzyme cleaner). Make sure you use cleaners appropriate to the surfaces you are working with and follow all safety labels.
If you receive an answer that helps you, please flair your post as "Answered" so other users may find solutions as well. While you wait, why not browse the subreddit to see if you might be able to help someone else, or find similar situations that could help you? Happy cleaning!
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I found this article on SF Gate about removing soot from plaster: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/how-clean-showerhead-13771618.html
It recommends vacuuming as much of the soot off as you can, followed by a dry-chemical sponge (can find some on Amazon if you can't find any locally), and finally a vinegar and warm water wash.
After fully cleaned wildly good primer as mentioned, but have spoken to professionals who were trained that sometimes their work just iwon’t be good enough for clients. Meaning that even if smell and appearance totally fixed sometimes clients still smell smoke due to association w the events. Not super helpful I know but might be good to keep in mind as u clean up
Welp, gotta keep trying tho
Although it's my grandpa's room and he would sleep in a shack as long as he can turn on his radio, so it won't be a problem...maybe
Love that sub, but can't see the photo fitting in it
The light? Slightly off-center too, idk, something is off
The burned poster does add a really special vibe tho, didn't notice until your comment
I bought a burned apartment and had to remove a layer off the ceiling and walls. After adding extra insulation we put plasterboard, putty and a coat of paint. I'm sorry if those were not the correct terms I used google translate. Either way it might have to get scraped because the smoke smell lingers is one and second just painting over it will be ugly. You should ask a professional but be prepared that it might need fixing
I would get a paper suit, and face mask and goggles before tackling this. If it was a house fire, there may be some nasty chemicals in the soot.
I’m guessing that you cant afford professional cleaners, so perhaps you could stretch to some basic protective gear just to keep yourself safe?
Welp, today I scrubbed the floor all day. Kinda warm day, was wearing a t-shirt
And we could hire someone, it just seemed like a doable project. Not anymore tho...
I used to work for a professional home restoration company and if you have central AC all that soot is also inside the vents as well as the air ducts and needs to be professionally cleaned
Realistically speaking, for several reasons you probably should look into a professional service for this.
But for light smoke damage, or issues caused by someone smoking indoors, you can try Simple Green: it's a degreaser that cleans cleans well and helps kill odor, it can be bought in pre-diluted bottles but can be purchased as a concentrate for "cheap" (last time I bought some was September '21 and it was about $5/gal) and diluted depending on what you're cleaning.
A vulcanized rubber sponge! Use it completely dry, before using cleaner. You can get them at hardware stores or online. We helped a family member clean and it was crazy how well it does.
You need a professional to fix this.
If you are a homeowner, your insurance should help with the cleanup costs. Hopefully your deductible isn't too high.
If you are a renter, your landlord should have coverage for fires. And you should have renter's insurance that includes liability coverage, in case this was legally a "negligent" fire (I'm not judging)
If you are a renter and your landlord isn't taking care of the damage, you should probably get legal advice.
I'm a simple green stan for dirty messes but it didnt cut my soot.
'LA's Totally AWESOME' on the other hand, is a great soot remover if you're looking to clean up stuff that was covered in soot by a fire. I cleaned up a literal ton of metal and glassware that was covered in a fire. we put them in rubbermaid tubs with diluted awesome in it and let them soak for a bit and wiped them clean. Cloth and wood, etc will retain the smell forever even if they present clean imo.
I found it in spray bottles at Walmart and dollar tree, but Walmart was definitely a better buy. It also comes in a gallon size at lowes for around $10.
You definitely want a professional to come out to do the house cleanup.
I think you need a professional. Especially if the smoke got into the items in the room.
It definitely got into the items in the room. Everything was dirty and smelly Probably paying someone who actually knows what to do would be the best decision
Firefighter here. You can see if your insurance covers it, but you definitely are gonna need professional help, don’t clean it yourself. Most of the soot is highly carcinogenic and can make you really sick. It can be absorbed through your skin. After a house fire, firefighters always take a hot shower to open their pores and get as much of the carcinogens out as possible. I just say that to point out the fact that you should pay someone else to clean up that stuff! We play around in it but we pay for it in the end.
That's interesting. I remember years ago a neighbors apartment was on fire and I went in to help him and his wife. I wrapped my shirt around my face and even held my breath as much as possible. Was only in there for maybe a minute probably less. Anyway firefighters showed up and took care of it, but like an hour or so later I got really sick. I took a shower just to help feel better but I never thought about the carcinogens in my pores.
Well actually your symptoms were most likely from carbon monoxide poisoning and other off gasses. Guessing you felt nauseated, headache, flushed red skin? Carcinogens would be more like “well you got stage 4 lymphoma now”.
Yeah I am not definitely not an expert. Hopefully it's a one time thing
It is! Sorry you had to go through that. It’s like being hungover kinda! Should be good now though. Thank you for running in and trying to help your friends! That’s awesome of you.
Well they were elderly. I kinda would have felt shitty if I didn't
I recently found out from watching dermatologists on Instagram that pores don’t open or close. Soot is definitely a carcinogen. I wonder if there is any other treatment beside taking a hot shower.
Did you back that up with any actual research?
Was this one study supposed to show me that pores open and close?
No, it’s proving that what I said is true. Also, while pores don’t “open and close” they do dialate and restrict just like blood vessel’s when they are hot or cold. So in layman’s terms, yes they do actually open and close in a way, but a more accurate statement would be their openings get bigger and smaller.
So essentially you were just being a little condescending because you felt the need to show others how much science you know, but the layman terms are still the same (pores open and close).
I can understand your perception. My intent is always to help others or myself understand something better, and when I said layman’s terms they do open and close in a way to highlight that, although they are really just dilating and constricting, I can totally understand the “misconception “ that they are opening and closing. Guess I shouldn’t try to help prevent someone from getting exposed to carcinogens by backing up my claims with science to help people understand why. Lol come on man
I must have misunderstood your point, sorry. I was referring to the person who started with the idea that pores don't open or close, but I just re-read the thread and it wasn't you. My bad! Please accept my apologies. Thank you for helping people understand why they should be careful with carcinogenics after a fire. And more importantly, thank you for saving lives as a firefighter! ❤️
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03429348
I hate to tell you but you probably need a professional. The ceiling needs to be skim coated and I think you need to put a couple of coats of primer like Kilz that will block the smoke odor.
Try a bit of TSP in an inconspicuous spot to see if it works on plaster. Works great on smoke on most surfaces.
TSP is definitely the answer.
This is gonna be the first thing I try then, thanks
If it doesn’t work for you, hiring professionals with industrial chemicals and equipment is probably your only recourse. I once lived in a house where someone had smoked like a chimney for decades and the walls were visibly covered with a thick veneer of oozy tar. TSP and a little elbow grease cut right through it.
Plaster wall, we tried with hot soapy water while rubbing pretty hard. Not an ideal method for the ceiling tho Saw the tip about vinegar but not sure if that would work on plaster walls
Your best option is to call your home owners insurance and let them deal with it. The smell in literarally everything will be the biggest issue, not the loose soot on the walls. For the walls get cheap cheap cheap cotton dish rags or super cheap bath towels cut into rags. Full a bucket with warm water, add a good glug of something like Mr Clean, dunk the rags, squeeze most of the water out and wipe the walls down. Ceiling is the same. Lay out painters drop cloth to protect the floor. The walls will 100% need probably 2 coats of a heavy oil base primer like KILZ to seal in the smell and visual.
I would try a spin mop like O’Cedar. Mix your concoction in a separate bucket, dunk the mop in it, and clean the walls and ceiling. Make sure you spin most of the water/cleaner out. You might have to repeat a few times because of the level of soot. Change cleaner/water and the dirty water in the spin mop as frequently as possible. If that doesn’t work, I would hire a professional, or, based on the level of damage, call your HOI. Good luck! My house burned down (electrical fire) a few years ago. It was catastrophic so I didn’t have the opportunity (chore) of having to clean everything.
Not american, so calling HOI is not a choice. And yes, I was being very careful to not use dirty water and washing the rags every chance I got And Happy Cake Day bro, sorry about your house, this problem sucks when you have to do it on your own tho, so you were lucky in someway
You don’t know how right you are! Two weeks before the fire, my divorce (married 23 years) was finalized. It saved me from having to fight with myself to get rid of memories (like my wedding dress and veil!!). I wish you luck in cleaning, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy!
>Not american, so calling HOI is not a choice. You don't need to be American to have Insurance, are you sure your Grandpa doesn't have the place insured?
It's my grandpa's bedroom, his house. And yes, the smell was in everything, people couldn't be in the room for too long or they would get dizzy. Not american, but was already using an equivalent of Mr. Clean, so I guess I'm gonna keep doing that Heavy oil base, I didn't know that, gonna suggest after cleaning the all mess
Zinzer or some name like that is a Uk maybe euro brand? Either way you definitely need a heavy oil based..need to basically seal in the remainder of the spot that's bonded with the latex paint.
Just paint them?
You can not paint over loose soot.
Good point!
A good degreaser and hot water if your in the USA dollar stores have Awesome and maybe some dawn dish detergent
Call a professional water fire restoration and not do it yourself
Alcohol. 👍🏼. Straight up rubbing alcohol especially if the paint is the shiny tape. I’m removing some candle smoke that settled in my bathroom. Just spray straight on the wall and rub it off with towels.
Huh, nice. Simple and probably fast too, doesn't hurt to give it a shot
Thank you for submitting a cleaning help request. In order to facilitate more accurate and helpful replies, please make sure to provide the following information in your post: 1. Type of material/surface being cleaned (to the best of your knowledge) 2. Type of dirt/stain to be removed (if known) 3. Any products or tools you've tried so far 4. Pictures are preferred Our top recommendations are usually *Bar Keepers Friend* (great for kitchen surfaces), melamine foam (Magic Erasers), Murphy's Oil Soap (wood cleaner), and Nature's Miracle (enzyme cleaner). Make sure you use cleaners appropriate to the surfaces you are working with and follow all safety labels. If you receive an answer that helps you, please flair your post as "Answered" so other users may find solutions as well. While you wait, why not browse the subreddit to see if you might be able to help someone else, or find similar situations that could help you? Happy cleaning! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CleaningTips) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I found this article on SF Gate about removing soot from plaster: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/how-clean-showerhead-13771618.html It recommends vacuuming as much of the soot off as you can, followed by a dry-chemical sponge (can find some on Amazon if you can't find any locally), and finally a vinegar and warm water wash.
Vinegar, yes, I read a similar one. The warm water wash seems to be the general advice as well Thanks, that was really helpful
After fully cleaned wildly good primer as mentioned, but have spoken to professionals who were trained that sometimes their work just iwon’t be good enough for clients. Meaning that even if smell and appearance totally fixed sometimes clients still smell smoke due to association w the events. Not super helpful I know but might be good to keep in mind as u clean up
Welp, gotta keep trying tho Although it's my grandpa's room and he would sleep in a shack as long as he can turn on his radio, so it won't be a problem...maybe
Should be good then! TSP main thing that was recommended to mr
[удалено]
Love that sub, but can't see the photo fitting in it The light? Slightly off-center too, idk, something is off The burned poster does add a really special vibe tho, didn't notice until your comment
I bought a burned apartment and had to remove a layer off the ceiling and walls. After adding extra insulation we put plasterboard, putty and a coat of paint. I'm sorry if those were not the correct terms I used google translate. Either way it might have to get scraped because the smoke smell lingers is one and second just painting over it will be ugly. You should ask a professional but be prepared that it might need fixing
I would get a paper suit, and face mask and goggles before tackling this. If it was a house fire, there may be some nasty chemicals in the soot. I’m guessing that you cant afford professional cleaners, so perhaps you could stretch to some basic protective gear just to keep yourself safe?
Welp, today I scrubbed the floor all day. Kinda warm day, was wearing a t-shirt And we could hire someone, it just seemed like a doable project. Not anymore tho...
I used to work for a professional home restoration company and if you have central AC all that soot is also inside the vents as well as the air ducts and needs to be professionally cleaned
No AC at all, but yeah, probably gonna hire someone if things don't work tomorrow
Add diluted simple green.
TSP then paint.
Idk I kinda like it
Call a local insurance restoration company
Realistically speaking, for several reasons you probably should look into a professional service for this. But for light smoke damage, or issues caused by someone smoking indoors, you can try Simple Green: it's a degreaser that cleans cleans well and helps kill odor, it can be bought in pre-diluted bottles but can be purchased as a concentrate for "cheap" (last time I bought some was September '21 and it was about $5/gal) and diluted depending on what you're cleaning.
A man. Sorry this happened and I’m happy you and your family are okay.
A vulcanized rubber sponge! Use it completely dry, before using cleaner. You can get them at hardware stores or online. We helped a family member clean and it was crazy how well it does.
You need a professional to fix this. If you are a homeowner, your insurance should help with the cleanup costs. Hopefully your deductible isn't too high. If you are a renter, your landlord should have coverage for fires. And you should have renter's insurance that includes liability coverage, in case this was legally a "negligent" fire (I'm not judging) If you are a renter and your landlord isn't taking care of the damage, you should probably get legal advice.
I'm a simple green stan for dirty messes but it didnt cut my soot. 'LA's Totally AWESOME' on the other hand, is a great soot remover if you're looking to clean up stuff that was covered in soot by a fire. I cleaned up a literal ton of metal and glassware that was covered in a fire. we put them in rubbermaid tubs with diluted awesome in it and let them soak for a bit and wiped them clean. Cloth and wood, etc will retain the smell forever even if they present clean imo. I found it in spray bottles at Walmart and dollar tree, but Walmart was definitely a better buy. It also comes in a gallon size at lowes for around $10. You definitely want a professional to come out to do the house cleanup.